Privacy Notice

Last updated: 4 September 2026

This Notice explains what personal information British Builders collects, why we have it, who we share it with, how long we keep it and what you can ask us to do about it. It is written to meet Articles 13 and 14 of the UK GDPR, and we have tried to write it so it can actually be read.

1. Who we are

British Builders is a trading name of 24 British Builders Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 10615360, with its registered office at 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ. We are the data controller for the personal information described in this Notice, which means we decide why and how it is used.

We are not required to appoint a statutory Data Protection Officer, but the person named above is responsible for data protection and is the person to write to.

2. The information we collect

We collect different information about different people, and only what we need.

If you enquire, or ask for a quotation

• Your name, email address and telephone number.
• The address of the property, and details of access.
• What you have told us about the work you need, including photographs you send.
• Any correspondence between us.

If you become a customer

• Everything above, plus your billing address.
• Details of the work carried out, dates of visits, and the engineers who attended.
• Photographs of the work, before and after, for our records and quality assurance.
• Certificates and reports we issue, such as electrical or gas safety records.
• Invoices, payments and any credit arrangements.
• Notes of calls and messages about your job.

If you take out a membership

• Everything above, plus your plan, billing period and renewal date.
• The properties registered to your account.
• When your included checks are due and when they were carried out.
• The edition of our terms that was in force when you joined.
• Payment status. We do not hold your card number: see clause 2.6.

If you apply to work with us as an engineer or supplier

• Your name, business name, contact details and trade.
• Qualifications, certifications, insurance details and references you send us.
• Documents you upload as part of your application.
• For engagements, information needed for onboarding and payment.

If you are a tenant or occupier at a property we attend

Sometimes a landlord or agent gives us your name, telephone number and access details so that we can arrange a visit. We use it only to carry out the work. Section 4 explains the lawful basis, and this Notice is how we tell you we hold it.

If you visit our website

• Technical information such as IP address, browser and pages visited.
• Whether you are signed in to an account.
• Cookie preferences. Our Cookie Policy explains this in full.

2.6 What we never hold

2.7 Special category data

We do not seek information about health, race, religion, sexuality, political opinions, trade union membership or biometrics. Occasionally a customer tells us about a health condition or disability because it affects access or the work needed. Where that happens we record only what is necessary to carry out the work safely, we rely on your explicit consent or on substantial public interest, and we delete it when it is no longer needed.

2.8 Children

Our services are not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect information about them. Where a child lives at a property we attend, we do not record information about them beyond what safety requires.

3. Where the information comes from

• Directly from you, when you contact us, request a quotation, create an account, subscribe, or apply to work with us.
• From your landlord or letting agent, where they have arranged work at a property you occupy.
• From our own engineers, in the form of site notes, photographs and reports.
• From Stripe, which tells us whether a payment succeeded, when the next one is due and whether a card is about to expire.
• From publicly available sources such as Companies House, where we check the details of a business customer or supplier.
• From credit reference agencies, only where a Business asks for a credit account. We will tell you before we do this.

4. Why we use it, and our lawful basis

Data protection law requires a lawful basis for every use of personal information. Ours are set out below, purpose by purpose.

4.1 Where we rely on legitimate interests

Where our basis is legitimate interests, we have weighed our interest against your rights and concluded that our use is one you would reasonably expect and that it does not override your interests. You may object at any time, and we will stop unless we have compelling grounds to continue or need the information for legal claims. We will explain our assessment on request.

5. Who we share it with

We do not sell personal information, and we never will. We share it only where it is needed for the purposes above.

Everyone acting for us is bound by contract to use the information only for the purpose we give it to them for, to keep it secure, and to return or delete it when the work is done.

6. How long we keep it

We do not keep information for longer than we need it. These are our retention periods, and where the period is set by law we say so.

When a period ends we delete the information or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify anyone.

7. Marketing

7.1 When we may contact you. We send marketing by email or text only where you have agreed, or where you are an existing customer and the message is about services similar to those we have already provided. That second route is the soft opt-in permitted by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.

7.2 Stopping it. Every marketing email has an unsubscribe link, and it works immediately. You can also reply to any message, email us, or call. Stopping marketing never affects messages about a job or a membership, which are service messages and are not marketing.

7.3 Member offers. Members receive occasional offers as part of the membership. If you would rather not, tell us and we will stop, and the rest of your membership is unaffected.

7.4 More detail. Our Direct Marketing Policy explains our approach in full.

8. Looking at how you use a membership

If you hold a membership we look at how it is being used, and sometimes write to you about it. This section explains exactly what that means, because a business deciding what to say to you based on your own history should say so before it starts rather than after.

8.1 What we look at

8.2 What we do with it

• We remind you when an included check falls due. That is the only reminder of its kind, and if you decide not to book it we leave it there.
• We write once if a membership has gone unused, after six months with no work ordered, setting out what it includes and how to cancel if it is not earning its keep. This is about the membership you hold, so it is part of the service rather than an offer.
• We sometimes suggest a different plan. Either a saving on the one you already hold, or, where we have worked at more properties than your plan covers, the plan that does cover them. At most once in ninety days, never in your first three months, and never again once you have said no. That is marketing, so you can switch it off and it stops.

8.3 What we do not do

• No decision here has any legal or similarly significant effect on you. Nothing is refused, priced differently, or withheld because of it. Article 22 of the UK GDPR, which covers decisions made purely by machine with that kind of effect, does not apply, and we mention it because people reasonably ask.
• A suggestion is only ever a suggestion. Nothing about your membership changes unless you choose it.
• We do not build a profile of you for anybody else, and we do not share any of this with anybody outside the business.

9. Where your information is held

We aim to keep personal information in the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area. Some of our providers process data outside that area.

These two are the providers we have engaged that process personal information outside the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area. Our website is hosted in house, on equipment we control, and site data does not leave the United Kingdom through the hosting. Email is a separate matter: it runs on Google Workspace, so anything written in an email to us is processed by Google under the safeguards in the table above.

Where information leaves the UK we make sure it is protected by one of the safeguards the law recognises, and you can ask us for a copy of the relevant terms.

10. How we keep it safe

• Access is limited to the people who need it to do their job.
• Accounts are protected by individual credentials, and administrative access is restricted.
• The website is served over an encrypted connection, and payment pages are hosted by Stripe.
• Devices used by our office and site teams are protected and can be wiped remotely.
• Our providers are chosen partly on their security, and are bound by contract.
• We keep a record of any personal data breach, and we will report a breach to the Information Commissioner within 72 hours where the law requires it, and tell you directly where there is a high risk to you.

No system is perfectly secure, and we would rather say so than claim otherwise. If you believe your information has been put at risk, please tell us at once.

11. Your rights

You have the following rights over the information we hold about you. They are free to exercise, and we answer within one month.

10.1 How to ask

Write to admin@british-builders.co.uk or to 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ. We may ask you to confirm your identity, so that we do not disclose your information to someone else. If a request is complex we may extend the month by up to two further months, and we will tell you why.

10.2 Automated decisions

We do not make decisions about you by automated means alone, and we do not profile you in any way that produces legal effects or similarly significant effects.

12. Cookies

Our website uses cookies. Which ones, what they do and how to change your choices are set out in our Cookie Policy, which forms part of this Notice.

13. Other websites

Our site links to other websites, including the Federation of Master Builders, Trustpilot and our payment provider. This Notice covers only our site. When you follow a link, please read the privacy notice of the site you arrive at.

14. Changes to this Notice

We review this Notice at least once a year and whenever we change how we use personal information. Every edition carries the date it was published, and the current one is always on our website. Where a change materially affects you we will tell you directly rather than relying on you to notice.

15. How to contact us, and how to complain

Please come to us first. Most things are quicker to fix that way, and we would rather know.

14.1 The Information Commissioner

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK regulator for data protection, at any time. You do not have to come to us first, though we would appreciate the chance.